"You're precious just the way you are," Huaisang insists, feeling aggressive and scared over the idea that anyone might try to change the things that make Dorian uniquely him. "And if you want to marry one day, when you get home, you can marry some very handsome man with a very nice ass and you can adopt some elf brat, probably, in order to really piss off the powerful families of Tevinter."
Huaisang keeps his arms tight around Dorian, heart aching. "You don't need to change. I love this Dorian."
"Thank you, I love you as well." A gentle kiss is dropped on Huaisang's brow and he sets his drink aside so he can embrace the man back.
"Hah! I actually had a love back home, in Thedas. I planned on returning to Tevinter, but he cannot go with me. Our people are at war." Dorian swallows and lowers his voice. "He's here in Duplicity." It doesn't feel right to talk about this with a man he'd just announced his love for, but he knows Huaisang won't be offended by the topic and might actually find this new information particularly juicy.
Huaisang sits up in interest at this new information. Moving to sit fully in Dorian's lap, even if it is still side-saddle, he studies his lover's face, bewildered that he speaks about this lover in past tense but then says that he's presently here in Duplicity. "He's here? But ... you're not together? I don't understand."
“He doesn’t remember being in a relationship with me from his version of Thedas. I’ve told him what we were and though I know he cares for me, I don’t know if it’s from feelings he’d developed here to compliment my memories...” Dorian has come to terms with this pain and talking about it makes it hurt less.
Aching sympathy takes over Huaisang's face, heart hurting for what Dorian tells him. He loved someone that much, and yet. How awful it must be to not be remembered by a loved one.
Huaisang knows that this place does things like that. He's seen two versions of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, and they remembered different sets of things. The Wei Wuxian who was here now arrived completely ignorant of the fact that Lan Wangji loved him, and could never have imagined that the two of them were in fact married.
"Dorian." Huaisang presses their foreheads together, aching so much that he wants to cry. Fenris or Bull? he wonders. Or someone else from their world I haven't yet encountered. No... he'd talk about them, if it was someone else. He would have involved himself in their life.
The permanent contract. Bull. That makes sense now.
Huaisang cannot imagine how wretched that must feel. If his brother were to return, but from some version where Huaisang had not been legitimized as his father's son, where Mingjue had never spoiled him and protected him, had never loved him... It would break Huaisang's heart to encounter such a version of his brother.
Dorian draws in a deep, shuddering breath, heart aching as he looks over Huaisang's face. His own countenance sobers considerably, smile falling so his expression most closely reflects his lover's, though it's a subdued pain. He's all too familiar with hiding how he feels, but he's got no reason to pretend. Not here and not now. Dorian finally allows himself the chance.
As he rests his brow against Huaisang's it furrows and he clenches his jaw. Both arms raise to hold the other man tight. It's not fair. Duplicity isn't fair. It would be so much better if he could blame someone for hurting him when he thought he'd finally been healed. He's having to piece his heart back together again and trying so carefully not to worry anyone. His face feels hot, like a ring of fire had been set around his collar and he can't bare to open his eyes.
When he finally speaks his voice is thick with emotion, frail and cracking along the edges like bark on a tree. "It is... He says I matter to him now." Which implies that before, had he not mattered or meant anything to The Iron Bull at all? Was he nothing more than a companion who was pretty on the eyes? Something not worthy of pursuit? He wants to be angry, to throw a fit, but it's not Bull's fault. He can't bring himself to feel anything but pain.
Huaisang hugs him tight, burying his face against the side of Dorian's throat. "Of course you matter to him. You're irresistible. And... he was here first? This place changes us, Dorian. It makes us... like we said. It's impossible to be exclusive. One day you'll go home and he'll be there, just the way you remember him. Until then, you have me, and you have a version of him, which is surely better than nothing."
Nuzzling at Dorian's throat, Huaisang presses a few soft kisses. "You are worthy of love. You are worthy of someone choosing you above all others. Someone already has. He's at home waiting for you, and the war will end one day. All wars end."
Grey eyes crack open as his embrace is returned and Dorian buries his face in the crook of Huaisang's neck. There's an unmistakable shake to his shoulders and he holds his lover tighter. Despite the pain, he feels a greater warmth of comfort and understanding and relief. A few wet kisses are dropped on Huaisang's neck and he nuzzles close when he hears that he's worthy of love.
This is more than enough. More than he could have ever expected. "If it were not for this place, I never would have met you." His voice is still just as thick, but it's quiet and only meant for the Dominant he holds close. "My Huaisang.... my Amatus."
Dorian raises his head only to cup the opposite side of his lover's face and kiss at his temple and into his dark hair. "The things you say. I must appear quite a mess. An irresistible one, yes, but a mess nonetheless." He keeps his face buried in Huaisang's hair, any attempts at a kiss or glance will cause him to turn his face away. The dampness surrounding his eyes and stuck in his lashes is unmistakable.
Huaisang blushes deeply at the way Dorian holds him and murmurs to him. He doesn't know what the endearment means, but the tone with which it's said communicates plenty. It's almost too much, too intense. Huaisang doesn't believe anyone could love him that much, and he doesn't know how to deal with the suggestion that Dorian might. It's eased by the knowledge that there's someone waiting for Dorian back home, someone he loves more, someone he belongs with. Huaisang is just some fun along the way.
"You're allowed to be a mess," Huaisang says, nuzzling at him and kissing at his lover's jaw and throat. "What's wrong with being a mess? I love you messes and all."
His tone of voice and the way he embraces Huaisang speak volumes of love and adoration. It still feels like his heart is throbbing and causing his chest to ache, but it’s not entirely unpleasant now, not while Huaisang is in his arms. Being with this man is always fun, but Dorian’s heart is big enough for more than one love or else he wouldn’t have opened up like he’d just done. He trust Huaisang, knows that either of them leaving Duplicity and each other is a very real possibility. For as long as he’s here to dote and pleasure this man, he will.
“Maker’s breath... are you blushing?” Dorian no longer tries to hide his face, not after being kissed and nuzzled so. He cups his hands on either side of his lover’s face and presses the tip of his nose to Huaisang’s. “Was it something I said?” A flush rising on those cheeks isn’t terribly rare considering how they often choose to spend their time together, but in this context...
Dorian tucks and curls his fingers behind each of the other man’s ears and gently traces over his bottom lip with the pad of one of his thumbs. “Such a lovely scarlet.” His eyes shine like crystals, brightened by tears he’d managed to hold back and they search Huaisang’s face before settling on his eyes.
Dorian drawing attention to the blush certainly makes it deepen, and Huaisang raises his shoulders, pouting defensively at the teasing over his blush. "I blush all the time!"
Huffing and lifting his chin primly, Huaisang looks away, trying to distract from any hint of emotional vulnerability on his own part. "I happen to have very pale skin that shows blushes, that's all. It's considered a sign of beauty where I come from."
He risks a glance at Dorian to see if this distraction technique is effective, then continues his vain little huffing and pouting.
Dorian hadn't been teasing and looks momentarily taken aback, but not enough so to let Huaisang go or to tear his eyes away from him. "So then I must appear quite unattractive by your standards." It's interesting, the difference in cultures and views of beauty. Dorian doesn't think any less of himself and has been called handsome plenty of times by his lover to know that those standards might not apply. That... or Huaisang just has excellent taste or a taste for exotic men.
"Don't turn away from me..." He pinches his lover's chin and turns his face so they're once more, nose to nose. "... it only makes me want you more." The struggle and threat of escape only makes him constrict tighter." "Come- let me admire you and those rosy cheeks."
Huaisang blinks at Dorian thinking himself unattractive by Huaisang's standards, and he shakes his head, looking earnest. "I'm beautiful," he says, touching his nose, then Dorian's. "You're handsome. Paleness indicates delicacy, leisure, artistry. My brother was almost as dark as you, always outdoors training with his sword or leading military campaigns. He was heartbreakingly handsome."
Giggling as Dorian says that Huaisang's attempts to escape only increase his desire, Huaisang promptly starts squirming and wriggling in more earnest, trying to slither out of Dorian's grip. "Is that so?" He much prefers playfulness to any kind of honest analysis of his feelings, so he's quick to take this distraction to the topic.
"Mmh..." He still considers himself beautiful, but the word definitely rings differently with Huaisang than with Dorian. There's still a great deal of affection and warmth in the mage's tone and he sacrifices the hold on his lover's face to circle an arm about his waist and keep him nice and close.
"You would try to deny me?" Dorian presses a gentle, chaste kiss to Huaisang's lips and lingers close enough to steal those lips as the temptation arises.
Huaisang giggles with delight as Dorian grips tighter and steals kisses. He steals a few pecks back in return, but mostly tries to dodge the kisses, pecking at Dorian's jaw or throat instead and laughing brightly. "Maybe I just like being chased. And caught."
"I am in no mood to chase." If Huaisang were to run from his now, Dorian would just redirect his attention to the wine. Lazy, indulgent affection is what he's feeling and at the moment he wants nothing more than to smother his lover with all the affection he can muster. Overwhelm him in the best way possible and then maybe tease him.
Huaisang sticks out his tongue and pouts, but then relents, cuddling close into Dorian's arms again and resting his head on Dorian's shoulder. The topic has been distracted away from his own blushing emotional vulnerability, and that's what matters to him.
Tracing an idle finger along the edge of Dorian's collar, Huaisang hooks his finger through the ring at the front and gives it a light tug. "All right, Dorian-ge. I'll stop teasing."
"Mmh, you say that... but I'm not sure I believe you." Dorian leans in closer, closer than that tug pulled him. "And I never said you should stop." A smile plays on his lips and he presses a soft kiss to Huaisang's bottom lip.
"You said you weren't in a mood to chase," Huaisang says, murmuring against Dorian's lips and not quite letting any of the soft kisses deepen. "So I should stop my teasing attempts to escape." And yet here he is again, playfully escaping kisses. "Or maybe you should just cut straight to pinning me down and ravishing me."
Dorian smiles, cheeks raising to narrow his grey eyes and he bumps his forehead to Huaisang's.
"Now, how did you know I was planning that, hm?" Likely because they'd spent so much time together and Dorian knew this man would enjoy the pinning and ravishing just as much Dorian would enjoy doing it. "What if I want to tease you..."
"Mm, I might have noticed a certain behavioral pattern of pinning and ravishing." Huaisang licked his lips, giggling happily as they tease each other. He kisses Dorian a few times, sweet and coaxing, tongue teasing at Dorian's lips. "Tease me," he says, with a hitch in his breath that makes it into a plea.
Dorian’s brows raise at how easily Huaisang reads him and he takes his time with the kiss. There’s a well controlled passion in the act and even if the Mage wants to tease and overwhelm his lover, he doesn’t just yet.
Gentle hands rest on Huaisang’s hips and slowly start to slide down to grope and hold his rear.
Moaning with satisfied pleasure as Dorian deepens the kiss, Huaisang shifts closer, grinding his hips against Dorian as those strong hands settle on his ass.
He slides a hand down the back of Dorian's shirt, blunt nails scraping across the skin, and then withdraws the hand in order to start unfastening belt and trousers, wiggling his hand inside as soon as he can in order to grope Dorian's shaft.
He's content to stay like this, feeling up his lover and enjoying the weight of him in his lap, but then there are nails on his back and he shivers slightly. That felt nice and he parts from the kiss slightly to stare down at that hand as it works his trousers open and very pointedly seeks out his cock.
"I thought ravishing was in the plan." Huaisang gives him a grin and a sweet kiss as he continues to slowly stroke his lover. Nuzzling their noses together, he beams with playful cheer. "I always want you."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Huaisang keeps his arms tight around Dorian, heart aching. "You don't need to change. I love this Dorian."
no subject
"Hah! I actually had a love back home, in Thedas. I planned on returning to Tevinter, but he cannot go with me. Our people are at war." Dorian swallows and lowers his voice. "He's here in Duplicity." It doesn't feel right to talk about this with a man he'd just announced his love for, but he knows Huaisang won't be offended by the topic and might actually find this new information particularly juicy.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Huaisang knows that this place does things like that. He's seen two versions of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, and they remembered different sets of things. The Wei Wuxian who was here now arrived completely ignorant of the fact that Lan Wangji loved him, and could never have imagined that the two of them were in fact married.
"Dorian." Huaisang presses their foreheads together, aching so much that he wants to cry. Fenris or Bull? he wonders. Or someone else from their world I haven't yet encountered. No... he'd talk about them, if it was someone else. He would have involved himself in their life.
The permanent contract. Bull. That makes sense now.
Huaisang cannot imagine how wretched that must feel. If his brother were to return, but from some version where Huaisang had not been legitimized as his father's son, where Mingjue had never spoiled him and protected him, had never loved him... It would break Huaisang's heart to encounter such a version of his brother.
"My sympathies. That must be excruciating."
no subject
As he rests his brow against Huaisang's it furrows and he clenches his jaw. Both arms raise to hold the other man tight. It's not fair. Duplicity isn't fair. It would be so much better if he could blame someone for hurting him when he thought he'd finally been healed. He's having to piece his heart back together again and trying so carefully not to worry anyone. His face feels hot, like a ring of fire had been set around his collar and he can't bare to open his eyes.
When he finally speaks his voice is thick with emotion, frail and cracking along the edges like bark on a tree. "It is... He says I matter to him now." Which implies that before, had he not mattered or meant anything to The Iron Bull at all? Was he nothing more than a companion who was pretty on the eyes? Something not worthy of pursuit? He wants to be angry, to throw a fit, but it's not Bull's fault. He can't bring himself to feel anything but pain.
no subject
Nuzzling at Dorian's throat, Huaisang presses a few soft kisses. "You are worthy of love. You are worthy of someone choosing you above all others. Someone already has. He's at home waiting for you, and the war will end one day. All wars end."
no subject
This is more than enough. More than he could have ever expected. "If it were not for this place, I never would have met you." His voice is still just as thick, but it's quiet and only meant for the Dominant he holds close. "My Huaisang.... my Amatus."
Dorian raises his head only to cup the opposite side of his lover's face and kiss at his temple and into his dark hair. "The things you say. I must appear quite a mess. An irresistible one, yes, but a mess nonetheless." He keeps his face buried in Huaisang's hair, any attempts at a kiss or glance will cause him to turn his face away. The dampness surrounding his eyes and stuck in his lashes is unmistakable.
no subject
"You're allowed to be a mess," Huaisang says, nuzzling at him and kissing at his lover's jaw and throat. "What's wrong with being a mess? I love you messes and all."
no subject
“Maker’s breath... are you blushing?” Dorian no longer tries to hide his face, not after being kissed and nuzzled so. He cups his hands on either side of his lover’s face and presses the tip of his nose to Huaisang’s. “Was it something I said?” A flush rising on those cheeks isn’t terribly rare considering how they often choose to spend their time together, but in this context...
Dorian tucks and curls his fingers behind each of the other man’s ears and gently traces over his bottom lip with the pad of one of his thumbs. “Such a lovely scarlet.” His eyes shine like crystals, brightened by tears he’d managed to hold back and they search Huaisang’s face before settling on his eyes.
cw: potentially offensive beauty standards
Huffing and lifting his chin primly, Huaisang looks away, trying to distract from any hint of emotional vulnerability on his own part. "I happen to have very pale skin that shows blushes, that's all. It's considered a sign of beauty where I come from."
He risks a glance at Dorian to see if this distraction technique is effective, then continues his vain little huffing and pouting.
Re: cw: potentially offensive beauty standards
"Don't turn away from me..." He pinches his lover's chin and turns his face so they're once more, nose to nose. "... it only makes me want you more." The struggle and threat of escape only makes him constrict tighter." "Come- let me admire you and those rosy cheeks."
no subject
Giggling as Dorian says that Huaisang's attempts to escape only increase his desire, Huaisang promptly starts squirming and wriggling in more earnest, trying to slither out of Dorian's grip. "Is that so?" He much prefers playfulness to any kind of honest analysis of his feelings, so he's quick to take this distraction to the topic.
no subject
"You would try to deny me?" Dorian presses a gentle, chaste kiss to Huaisang's lips and lingers close enough to steal those lips as the temptation arises.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Tracing an idle finger along the edge of Dorian's collar, Huaisang hooks his finger through the ring at the front and gives it a light tug. "All right, Dorian-ge. I'll stop teasing."
no subject
no subject
no subject
"Now, how did you know I was planning that, hm?" Likely because they'd spent so much time together and Dorian knew this man would enjoy the pinning and ravishing just as much Dorian would enjoy doing it. "What if I want to tease you..."
no subject
no subject
Gentle hands rest on Huaisang’s hips and slowly start to slide down to grope and hold his rear.
no subject
He slides a hand down the back of Dorian's shirt, blunt nails scraping across the skin, and then withdraws the hand in order to start unfastening belt and trousers, wiggling his hand inside as soon as he can in order to grope Dorian's shaft.
no subject
"Haah... is that what you want?"
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)